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Monday, April 6, 2009

This is a picture of my two older boys waiting for their ride to the bus stop this morning.

The end of Spring Break is usually celebrated for one reason, and one reason alone. After this break, school allows students to wear shorts to school. My own boys protested only half-heartedly when I saidno shorts.

Today certainly doesn’t feel like Spring. Indiana is like that. So changeable. One day in the 60’s, the next in the thirties. I’m a little disappointed. I have so many fun projects I want to be working on outside.

And I hate to see the daffodils droop before I’m finished enjoying them.

They have outdone themselves this year.

But my biggest concern is for my little Japanese Red Maple. I’m hoping you can help me.

Nearly nine years ago, I dug it up as a tiny seedling from beneath my parents’ Japanese Red Maple. That maple graced the bank of the creek I used to play in as a kid in Pennsylvania. So it reminds me of so many fun times.

We took it home 20 miles away and planted it in a rock garden in our front yard. Deep in the woods, we had no sun to offer it, and nothing but rocks for a yard. So it struggled to survive for two years, growing less than a few inches.

The spot we planted it here turned out to be right in the path of a herd of deer. It was grazed to a nub in the space of one night.

Heart-broken, we dug it up again and planted it on the other side of the house, closer to our garage and the protection we hoped the house would offer it.

Here it has done really well. It has grown to a height of nearly 7 feet over the last several years and it is absolutely stunning once the leaves are out.

You can kind of see that the buds are just starting to pop.

This is where I need your help:

Tonight, sadly, they are predicting temps around 25 degrees F. Last year, a late freeze (in the single digits) after its buds had popped caused it to loose all of its new growth--even with me covering it over as best I could by pinning sheets and blankets to its upper half.

The poor thing didn’t look itself until pretty late in the summer. We sure missed its Spring show!

I’m trying to think of a way to protect it from tonight’s freeze. But I’m not coming up with a plan I think will work. Do you have any ideas for me? I’m pretty desperate!

5 comments:

Hmmmm...the best I can come up with is a couple of moving blankets and tarps. I think there's something called adhesive heat tape for people's gutters (you probably are a lot more familiar with it than I am...). Perhaps if you could put something like that under the blanket too, it would help. Sounds kinda far out to me, but hey, this is just brain storming, right?

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